Naughty Nightlife in Phuket

Introduction

There
is no denying that the go-go bars, girly bars and sex shows are a very visible
aspect of the nightlife scene in Patong and to a lesser extent Karon and Kata.
In this section we will not attempt to judge the sex industry or the people
involved. It is a complicated issue so we only try to describe it to give
you an understanding of what is going on. (See our nightlife
page for information about Phuket's non-naughty nightlife).

Some people find the girly bars distasteful. For others it is all part of
the colour and vibrancy of the nightlife scene, while for some it is the
main reason for coming to Phuket. The sex tourism sector in Phuket is not
near the scale of that found in Bangkok or Pattaya but it is still an attraction
for a large number of visitors.

You do not need to be an active participant to go to the go-go bars. Couples,
families and tour groups mingle with the sex tourists wandering around the
bars. For many visitors to Thailand, a visit to a go-go bar or sex show is
on their must do list. If you are not offended then it is a great place to
drink and people-watch. Everyone is welcome in the bars. If you go as a couple
or make it clear that you do not want the attention of the girls then they
will leave you alone (eventually). However if you want to talk to the girls
in the beer bars they will be happy to have a chat or play bar games such
as connect-four or dice games. If you want to reward them for their time,
then buy them a drink or give a tip.

Background

Prostitution was made illegal in Thailand in 1960. However, the Thai government
was never keen to criminalise a profession that has flourished in the country
for centuries and they only did so under political pressure from the UN
and US at the time. The 1960 legislation was replaced in 1996 by a new piece
of legislation called "The Prevention
and Suppression of Prostitution Act". This legislation has a vaguer
definition of what constitutes prostitution. The new act includes the
proviso that it is only prostitution if the participants act in
a 'promiscuous manner'. This gives the authorities leeway in allowing
what is clearly a thriving business to operate while still having the legislation
to control it if they think anyone has crossed the lines.

Clearly they are happy with most of what happens at the major tourist
destinations as it is so openly on display.
The fact is, it is a big money earner for Thailand. Sex tourism attracts
a large number of visitors from all over the world and a huge
amount of foreign currency. There are many influential business figures involved
and of course, many poor girls reliant on the money they make from the industry.
The unofficial attitude taken by the authorities is that as long as nobody
is hurt and it is a transaction between two consulting adults, then there
is no problem. They take a very dim view of anyone
caught having sex with an under age girl. This is treated as a
serious offence. The age of consent in Thailand is 15. However, in one of
those strange Thai contradictions, although prostitution is vaguely illegal,
the 1996 act still defines the age of consent for prostitutes as
18.

Prostitution in Thailand has never been limited to the tourist resorts.
In fact, this is a recent development. Almost every town in Thailand has
brothels, although much more discreet than those in the tourist towns. The
majority of prostitution in Thailand takes place between Thais.
The emergence of sex tourism in Thailand started with the arrival of American
servicemen from the Vietnam War in the 1960s. Pattaya became a favourite
destination for the GIs. They soon discovered the charms of the local girls
and a new industry was born in Thailand.

Prostitution in Phuket does is not particularly linked to human trafficking.
These things do unfortunately happen in Thailand but it is not a significant
part of the Phuket sex tourism scene. The human traffickers are generally
sending Thai girls to work in brothels abroad.
They may also use Thailand as a transit point for girls from neighbouring
nations such as Laos and Cambodia. The girls working in Phuket are mostly
Thai and mostly working by choice - although certainly through force
of circumstance.

The Girls

The majority of women working in the tourist sex industry come from the area
of Thailand known as Isaan. This is the northeast of Thailand and is the
agricultural heartland of the country. It is the largest and poorest region
of Thailand where the monthly wage can be as little as 3000-baht (approx $90
US). It is also the region where traditions are strongest. Family ties
are important throughout Thailand but in Isaan parents drill it into their
children from an early age that it is their duty above all else to take
care of the family, and especially to provide for the parents in their
old age.

The women generally come from poor farming communities. Many of them will
have left school early. When poor families
in Isaan do not have enough money to keep all their children in
school, they give priority to educating their boys while sending the
girls out to work. The girls may have started working on farms or in factories
from as young as eleven years old.

There is a common perception that girls working in Thailand's sex industry
start at a young age. A significant percentage of the girls in Phuket are
in their late teens or early twenties. However, perhaps a more common story
is that the girl had a relationship with a young Thai man in her village.
They had children together and then the relationship broke down. Now she
finds herself in her mid twenties trying to meet the demands of supporting
her children and her parents. The financial burden is too much to bear so
she leaves her children with her parents and follows the worn trail to Bangkok,
Pattaya or Phuket.

Everyone in the girl's village knows how young women make good money in
the tourist towns. The family will make a pretence that the young woman
has gone to work in a hotel or restaurant and that way they will maintain
face in the village. In the meantime, the young woman will find her way
into the sex industry where, if she is attractive enough, she can earn 1,000-baht
a night or more compared to the 3,000-baht a month she might earn working
on a farm in Isaan.

As long as she is sending back enough money to support the family, she will
be seen as a good daughter doing her duty. Hopefully, after a couple of years
in the industry she will save enough money to return to the village and raise
her children. Some women find foreign husbands and achieve a level of financial
security they could not have dreamed of in Isaan.

The other side of the coin is that many women do not get out of the sex industry.
They do not make enough money or they lose all they earn on drugs, gambling
or supporting Thai boyfriends. Some will suffer health problems such as venereal
disease, drug addiction, mental disorders, and even hearing problems from
constant exposure to loud music.

Of course, these are all generalisations. Every girl has her own story. For
some the sex industry is their downfall and for others their salvation.

Their Appeal

Thai women seem to hold great appeal in the sex industry.
They have become something of an industry standard and are sent to work in
brothels all over the world, often under awful conditions. Sometimes, their
own families sell them to brothel owners. It is shocking to us that parents
could do such a thing to their daughters but they are living by a very different
set of standards. Even the sold girls will often believe they are doing the
right thing for their family.

Fortunately,
most of the girls working in Phuket have not suffered such a terrible fate.
They have at least made their own choice and are working in a
potentially rewarding environment.

It is easy to see the appeal of Thai women. They are often petite and slim.
They tend to have good complexions, silky black hair and big brown eyes. In
addition, they are fun. Probably not, if they are working in a squalid brothel
in a foreign country but generally, Thai women are lively and entertaining.

The Customers

We have previously stated that the majority of prostitution in Thailand takes
place between Thais. Of course, in the tourist towns such as Phuket, the majority
of customers are foreigners.

A common perception is that the customers are sad men, perhaps old, unattractive
or lacking personality. While this may be true of some, the truth is that
it is very difficult to generalise. The customers come from all walks of life,
age groups and backgrounds.

They come from all over the world. The most common nationalities are European,
American and Australian. There is also a good representation from other Asian
countries such as Japan, India and the Middle East.

The majority of customers are men but a small percentage are women who come
looking for male or female company.

Some customers fit the stereotype of aging, unattractive men picking up beautiful
young Thai women. However, many others are young men partying and taking advantage
of the readily available female company. There are also many very wealthy
customers. It is not unusual to hear of yachts arriving in the bay and taking
girls on board to party.

How it Works in Phuket

Terminology

The sex industry has its own set of terminology with phrases such as 'beer
bar', 'go-go bar', 'mamasan', 'lady drink', 'bar fine', 'short time', 'long
time', 'GFE', 'freelancer', 'butterfly' and many more.

Beer Bar - these are simple open sided bars often grouped
in complexes. Most of these complexes are in the sois (side streets) off
Bangla Road in Patong. There are stools around the bar and there are usually
a couple of poles on the bar for the girls to dance round. The customers
stroll around the complex until they choose a bar or are dragged to a bar
by the girls working there. The girls will then try to sell themselves to
the customer by talking to him or entertaining him with bar games. Typical
games are connect-four, jenga, dice games and hammering
nails into a block of wood race.

Go-Go Bar - these are indoor bars where the girls dance
on stages or on the bar. The girls usually wear bikinis - they are no longer
allowed to dance topless although it may still happen if the bar thinks the
authorities are not taking notice. The girls have numbers and customers can
request a girl they like by number.

Mamasan - a woman who manages the girls working in a bar.
Only the big bars and go-gos will have a mamasan. She will be an older woman
who demands respect from the younger girls. She will be responsible for
recruiting new girls, making sure the girls work well and liaising with
customers.

Lady Drink - a drink that a customer buys for a girl. These
will cost anything from 30 to 150 baht above the normal bar price. The bar pays the
extra to the girl as reward for selling the drink. Effectively, you are
not only buying the girl a drink but also giving her a tip.

Bar Fine - the fee charged by a bar for taking a girl from
that establishment. The beer bars charge between 300 to 500 baht. This money
is for the bar - seen as an introduction fee and recompense for the bar
losing a worker for the night. The bar may pay a percentage of the bar fine
to the girl but the customer still needs to pay the girl for her company.
The go-gos charge higher bar fines. Some go-gos will ask for 3000 baht or
more but this usually also includes the payment to the girl so the customer
does not need to pay her directly

Short Time - the customer takes a girl to a nearby room
for a 'short time'. The beer bar complexes and go-go bars often have short
time rooms at the back of the premises. The customer will pay a bar fine,
a charge for the room and an agreed price to the girl for her services (500
to 1,000-baht). When they are finished, the girl will return to work while
the customer moves on to his next port of call.

Long Time - the customer will take the girl for the night
(a 'long time') usually back to his hotel room. The payment to the girl
is normally 1,000 to 2,000-baht. Some of the more up-market hotels do not
allow overnight guests while others will charge a guest fee. (See the bottom
of the page for some 'guest friendly' hotels.)

GFE - Girl Friend Experience. This is where the man takes
the girl for the full length of his holiday and treats her like his girlfriend.
The girl will act as a companion and guide. They will go to restaurants together,
take day trips together and generally act like a couple. Of
course, the girl is still working and the man pays for everything and pays
the girl for her time. The bar where the girl works will probably expect to
receive a bar fine for every day the girl stays with the man. Many a romance
has blossomed from the GFE and sometimes it develops into the WE (wife experience).
This may be followed by the divorce experience and the going home with no
money experience.

Freelancer - a girl that does not work from a specific
bar. These girls will pick up customers at nightclubs or off the street
hence saving the customer paying a bar fine. Freelancers are often attractive
girls who are confident they can pick up men without the advantage of a
work base. They may therefore charge more than bar girls. They are also
considered less trustworthy as they are harder to track down in cases
of theft from the customer.

Butterfly - someone, male or female, who flits around from
one partner to the next.

Bangla Road

Bangla
Road in Patong is the heart of the tourist sex industry in Phuket. This is
where you will find the great mass of beer bars and go-gos.

Soi Easy, Soi Gonzo, Soi Crocodile, Soi Eric are all side streets with complexes or beer bars. Tiger Live Band
is a large beer bar complex that has quickly become the most popular complex since it opened in 2011. These complexes are full of small beer bars and there
are literally hundreds of girls ready to entertain customers.

Soi Seadragon is a wider soi, recently rennovated, with beer bars down the middle and larger bars
on each side. This soi has some go-gos and is also the location of the sex
shows with ping-pong balls, darts, etc. The famous Suzie Wongs is at the end on the right hand side. They give the customers foam tubes that they can use to slap the girls bums. It is totally painless but makes a load slap sound. This soi also has a number of normal
bars with live music.

There are other go-gos at the top of Bangla Road.

There are also a variety of normal nightlife venues in and around Soi Bangla
with live music, sports screens, pool tables and food.

The line of bars on the road from Moon Bar down to Ned Kelly's are popular
drinking spots to watch the action on Bangla Road. Most of these bars do have
working girls but because they are on the street, they are less obvious about
wrapping themselves around poles and pushing themselves on potential customers.
Many tourists drink at these bars to people-watch.

The discos such as Tiger, Tai Pan, Hollywood, Seduction and
Banana are not actively engaged in the sex industry. However, there will
be girls freelancing at these bars and men looking for them.

Other Sex Tourism Locations

Apart from Bangla, there are a few other beer bar complexes. In Patong, there
is Soi Sukhumvit on Rat-U-Thit Road north of Bangla. There is another Beer
Bar complex on the Beach Road north of Bangla before the Thara Patong Hotel.
In Karon there is the bar area above the Karon Circle at the north of the
town.

In Phuket Town, the sex venues are more Asian Style. There is the infamous
Soi 11 off Phun Phon Road. Here the girls sit in rows in shop front windows.
Customers select a girl and take her to one of the rooms upstairs.

The more refined Asian customers will go to the karaoke venues such as Pink
Lady. These are not the simple karaoke bars that many Thais like to visit
to drink beer, eat food and sing songs. These are plusher venues where the
girls sing songs on a stage and the customers buy them flowers as a reward.

There is also the very plush Pink Lady Cafe
at the base of the Metropole Hotel that has a good stage show and can be worth a visit even if you
are not looking for a girl. They do of course have girls, lots of girls and
they are generally more beautiful than their Patong counterparts. Drink prices
at these venues are high but not exorbitant.

Gay Area

The main gay area is Soi Paradise in Patong off Rat-U-Thit Road a little
north of Bangla Road. It is next to the Royal Paradise Hotel Tower, which
is one of the tallest buildings in Patong. There are gay bars, gay cabarets
and gay guesthouses. This area also caters to straight women. Some of the
boys working in the gay bars are not actually gay and are happy to go with
female customers.

You do not need to be gay to visit Soi Paradise. It is a very colourful area
and some of the gay cabarets are worth a look.

Ladyboys

Known
in Thai by the jokey term 'katoey'. You may also hear them called ladymen,
he-males or she-males. Katoeys are of course men who look like women. Some
have had varying degrees of gender altering surgery. Some take hormones to
increase their female attributes. Some just dress and make up as females.
Whilst some (like the three in the photo) are easy to spot, there are others
that make very attractive women and if you saw them in the street, you really
would not know they were men. There are many stories of men picking up women
in bars only to find when they get back to their hotel that she is in fact
a he. These are not just legends - it really does happen.

Katoeys have become something of a tourist attraction. In Bangla Road, you
can see them at the entrance to Soi Crocodile, which is often referred to
as Soi Katoey. Many tourists come to drink at one of the surrounding beer
bars while watching the katoeys dance on the tables. You can take a photo
with the katoeys but remember to pay them a tip - they are notoriously spiteful
if they feel cheated.

There are also a couple of katoey bars and a katoey cabaret at the back of
Soi Crocodile.

Another place to see katoeys is Simon Cabaret at the south end of Patong
on the road to Karon. It is a simple but well-done cabaret show with katoeys
dressed in spectacular costumes and miming to a range of songs. You will be
amazed at just how convincing some of them are.

You can also see katoeys in the gay area of Patong at Soi Paradise.

Massage

Many massage parlours are just that - places to get a good massage. Most
massage parlours will give just a massage if that is what the customer wants
but some also offer extra services (a massage with a 'happy ending'). Open-air
massages and massage parlours where the customers are separated by curtains
will only offer massage. Massage parlours that provide a private room may
well offer extra services.

The most well known massage parlour offering extra services is Christin Massage
- a big pink building on Rat-U-Thit Road south of Bangla. This massage parlour
is just a higher-end sex venue. The girls sit behind a glass screen for the
customer's selection. The selected girl then takes the customer to a comfortable
private room for a soap bath, massage and of course, 'extra services'.

Warnings

For those participating in sex tourism - caution is advised.

Always wear a condom - it is just not worth the risk. If you do not have
a condom then the girl should have one.

Remember no matter how lovely the girl may seem, she is working in an industry
that is likely to corrupt. When the girls first arrive in Phuket, they are
usually well-mannered Thai country folk. However, they very quickly learn
the tricks of the trade. And above all else, they are working for money.

If you take a girl back to your hotel then many hotel receptions will ask
to see the girls ID card. They do this to ensure the girl cannot get away
with committing a crime against
you. Theft is the main danger. You go to the shower and she takes your wallet
and leaves. You go to sleep and she takes your valuables and is gone. You
are not looking and she takes your jewelry before kissing you good-bye. Remember
if the girl knows you are on holiday for two weeks, then she can disappear
for two weeks. If you take a girl from a beer bar or go-go she will be easier
to trace but it is no guarantee. You could consider asking to see the girls
ID card yourself. It might not be romantic or charming but let's face it,
this is not romance. You can check her date of birth to be sure she is over
18 by subtracting 543 from the Thai year.

There have been many reports from Bangkok and Pattaya of girls doping customers.
The last thing the customer remembers is having a drink with a girl and
the next thing he knows he is waking up with a stunning headache and his
valuables gone. There have now been a few confirmed reports of this happening in
Phuket. Men are often reluctant to report these crimes so there is no knowing
how prevalent this is in Phuket. We do not believe it is common in Phuket but still it is a good
idea to be careful with your drinks.

Theft from customers is not the most common scam. The girls know they can
make much more money if the customer gives it voluntarily. The sob stories
the girls tell their customers are brilliant heart-tugging tales of woe
designed to elicit sympathy. The punch line will invariably be that she
needs to make big money to pay for someone's hospital care or to save her
family from starvation. The old-hands call them sick buffalo stories and
treat them with great scepticism. In fact, there is often an element of
truth to the stories. The girls do come from poor backgrounds and their
families are often suffering hardship. That does not mean the final punch
line for money is true or that you have any responsibility to pay for it.

Another common scam is the girl will tell the man she will stop working in
bars and be faithful to him, if he can send her money. The man will then go
home and send the girl regular payments thinking he is keeping her out of
the bar. Many of the girls have several western boyfriends on the go at the
same time sending money and they are still making more money from new customers
in their bars.

It is not fair to portray all the girls as scam masters. Many are honest,
hard working girls trying to make a living as best they can. Lots of western
men have married Thai girls they met in bars and are very happy. However,
the sex industry is a corrupting influence and you should be on your guard.
There are no hard-and-fast rules - every girl is different and should be judged
individually. A good dose of cynicism is sensible.

Guest Friendly Hotels

Some hotels will not allow 'overnight guests'. Many others charge a guest
fee or joiner fee (anywhere from 300-baht to 3000-baht). Hotels and guesthouses
that allow overnight guests and do not charge a guest fee are referred to
by the punters as 'guest friendly'. The smaller hotels and guest houses are
more likely to be guest friendly than the major hotels. Below are a few recommendations
for nice, centrally located hotels that are guest friendly and can be booked
over the internet (make sure you book a double room).

Byd
Lofts (4 star) If you are looking for something upmarket
then this is the one high-range hotel that is guest friendly.
The rooms are actually self-contained apartments with all the comforts
of home. Ten minutes walk to Bangla Road and 2-minutes to the beach.

Yorkshire
Inn (3 star) Great central location, recently renovated with
good rooms and access to a good swimming pool and gymnasium.

Safari Beach Hotel (3 star) Comfortable hotel with pool in a central but quiet location, close to the nightlife area.